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Thursday, 6 December 2012

The End of the World

Nearly 14 days from the time of writing, the world will end. This isn't a
modest prediction. In fact, if the doomsayers are right, even they won't even
be around to gloat at the charred, smoking remains of humanity, satisfied that
they were right all along. Most people understand that the predictions fall
easily in line with a broad history of failed apocalyptic forecasts, the most recent being Harold Camping's failed efforts to foresee the Second Coming.

Our Prime Minister has even taken to Triple J
to poke fun at the predictions. To revel in the comedy of an
inherently funny theory is natural, and of course, should never be discouraged.
There is, though, another side to dramatic predictions of harm or suffering
that often goes unexplored, and is, in my eyes, analogous to the issue that currently
exists around wind farms and health.

Most media coverage of the event has been limited to tabloid publications, such as 'Todays Newz'

The theory itself is predictably shaky. The idea stems from a stone
tablet found in Mexico a few decades ago. The concept is that as the Mayan
calendar reaches its end, some assorted Mayan gods will descend from the
heavens and start behaving like petty sky-morons, resulting , of course, in
widespread armageddon. The evidence supporting this theory is essentially
non-existent, as NASA patiently explains on
their website.

An astrobiologist from NASA, David Morrison, points out there
are in fact real consequences of promoting claims that have no evidence to
support them. Space.com reports
on Morrison’s comments:

“Unfortunately, Morrison said, the fantasy has real-life
consequences. As one of NASA's prominent speakers on 2012 doomsday myths,
Morrison said, he receives many emails and letters from worried citizens,
particularly young people. Some say they can't eat, or are too worried to
sleep, Morrison said. Others say they're suicidal.”

Proclamations of harm, destruction and apocalypse have caused damage to physical and mental well-being many times in the past. On October 28th, 1844, the Millerites (a religion from
which the modern Seventh-Day Adventist church arose) patiently awaited the
return of Jesus Christ, as predicted by the Baptist preacher William Miller. As
the tales go, several Millerites woke that morning and jumped from their
perches, expecting gravity to be annulled by the Second Coming.

Predictions of religious apocalypse persist, though they more regularly avoid setting specific dates.

Threats, whether
real or anticipated, are likely to induce anxiety in human beings. I suspect
the response exhibited is not always a function of the quantity or quality of supporting
evidence. It seems likely that the framing and presentation of information
about the threat will be a significant factor in how that response is received,
and consequently, the manifestation of anxiety or fear.

The Waubra foundation is the primary proponent of a hypothetical
disease known as ‘Wind Turbine Syndrome’, said to affect residents living near
wind turbines. Curiously, many of the symptoms that are claimed to be the
result of exposure to wind turbines are congruent with the symptoms of stress,
anxiety and fear. The UK’s Mental Health Foundation lists
the more common ones:

Simon Chapman, Professor of Public Health at Sydney
University, has compiled a list
of symptoms purportedly associated with Wind Turbine Syndrome. Though the
variety of symptoms is quite large, the most frequently occurring reports are
closely correlated with general feelings of stress, fear and sleeplessness.

The Waubra Foundation, led by the unregistered ex-general
practitioner Sarah Laurie, plays a key role in framing wind turbine
developments as a valid threat to health. ‘Cautionary
notices’ and heated community
meetings are the stage from which they vociferously spread claims that are
definitely counter to evidence-based
medicine.

The spread of misinformation on wind turbine health issues is a successful tactic in inspiring anger, fear and anxiety in small rural communities. This photo taken from a protest in Ontario.

The fear of a wind farm development, inspired by creative
pseudoscience, shares some commonality with the amusing but potentially detrimental
tales of Armageddon spread through the internet. Ultimately, both have the
potential to spurn fear and anxiety that is entirely avoidable. I imagine we’ll
see both claims filed away in the history books among Y2K, power-line
hysteria, and vaccine
health scares.

This does not revoke responsibility from science
communicators, and professionals in the wind industry, from actively
investigating, examining and where necessary, rebuking irresponsible claims
made by those who simply have very little to lose. As we become more aware of the dangers of unfounded health scares, particularly in the context of worsening rural mental health issues, I hope the impetus to combat falsehood and myth grows proportionally stronger.